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SPIRITUALISTS' ASSOCIATION. 



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ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC 



ORGANIZED AT BOSTON, 

NOVEMBER, 1854. 




GEOBIJK K. SNOT, PRINTER, 2B COURI STREET. 



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NEW ENGLAND 



SPIRITUALISTS' ASSOCIATION. 



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ADDRESS TO THE PUBLIC. 



ORGANIZED AT BOSTON, 
NOVEMBER, 1854. 



t". XOEUB K KJOll', PRINTER, 22 COURT STREET. 



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PRESIDENT, 

ALLEN PUTNAM, Esq., Roxbury, Mars. 

TICE PRESIDENTS, 

Hon. J. F. SIMMONS, Providence, R. I. 

ALVIN ADAMS, Boston, Mass. 

BENJAMIN KINGSBURY, Jr., Esq., Portland, Me. 

HARRISON BLISS, Worcester, Mass. 

E. MATTOCKS, M. D., Lyndon, Vt. 

J. SEYMOUR BROWN, Hartford, Ct. 

RUFUS ELMER, Springfield, Mass. 

ROBERT WILSON, Esq., Keene, N. H. 

B. C. HARRIS, Fiskeville, R. I. 

JONATHAN BEAN, Montville, Me. 

JOSEPH CRAM, Hampton Falls, N. H. 

WARD CHENEY, Manchester, Ct. 

Rev. ADIN BALLOU, Hopedale, Mass. 

Rev. DANIEL F. GODDARD, Boston, Mas?. 

RECORDING SECRETARY, 

C. P. WEEKS, Boston, Mass., (9 Court Street.) 

CORRESPONDING SECRETARIES, 

A. E. NEWTON, Boston. Mass., (5 Washington Street.) 

JOHN S. ADAMS, Chelsea, Mass., (or 115 Washington Street, Boston.) 

Rev. HENRY J. HUDSON, Chelsea, Mass. 

TREASURER, 

JONATHAN BROWN, Jr., Boston, Mass. 

TRUSTEES, 

PHINEAS E. GAY, Boston, Mass. JOHN BAKER, Hinghara, Mass. 

II. F. GARDNER, M.D., Boston, Mass. CALEB EDDY, Boston, Mass. 

ALFRED B. HALL, Boston, Mass. GEORGE DARRACOTT, Boston, Ms 

LUTHER PARKS, Boston, Mass. EDWARD HAYNES, Dedham, Ms, 

CHA'S FOSTER, Charlestown, Mass. HORACE B. WILBUR, Boston, Ms. 

JONATHAN BUFFUM, Lynn, Mass. JOHN S. ROGERS, Boston, Mass. 

JAMES SWAN, Boston, Mass. 

COMMITTEE ON MEMBERSHIP, 

* 

ALBERT BINGHAM, Esq., Boston, Mass. 
A. B. CHILD, M. D., Boston, Mass. 
JOHN ROGERS, Roxbury, Mass. 
BELA MARSH, Boston, Mass. 
Rev. HERMAN SNOW, Boston, Mass. 



CONSTITUTION. 



Section 1. The name of this Society shall be "The 
New England Spiritualists' Association." 

Sec. 2. Its object shall be the diffusion of the knowledge 
of the phenomena and principles of Spiritualism. 

Sec. 8. Its officers shall be a President, as many Vice 
Presidents as the Association shall designate, a Board of 
Trustees consisting of at least nine persons, Secretaries, and 
a Treasurer. Five of the Trustees shall be a quorum for 
the transaction of business. 

Sec. 4. The duties of the officers shall be as follows: 
The President — or in his absence the Vice Presidents, in the 
order in which they stand in the list, or in their absence a 
President pro tempore — shall preside at all meetings of the 
Association, and shall call special meetings of the Associa- 
tion whenever required by five members. The President 
and Vice Presidents shall be ex-officio members of the Board 
of Trustees. The Secretaries shall conduct the correspond- 
ence of the Association, and keep full records of their pro- 
ceedings. The Treasurer shall have the custody of the mo- 
ney and property of the Association, and dispose of the 
same only as the Board of Trustees shall direct. The busi- 
ness and affairs of the Association shall be conducted and 



governed by the Board of Trustees, who may enact by-laws, 
subject to the approval of the Association, and appoint such 
subordinate officers as necessity may require. 

Sec. 5. Any person who believes in the reality of Spir- 
itual Intercourse may become a member of the Association, 
if his or her deportment and character are acceptable to the 
Committee on Membership, upon signing this Constitution 
and complying with the By-Laws. 

Sec. 6. There shall be an annual meeting of the Asso- 
ciation, in Boston, on the Tuesday preceding the last 
Wednesday of May ; at which time the officers named in the 
third section shall be chosen, and when, also, shall be cho- 
sen five persons to constitute a Committee on Membership. 

Sec. jT. The Trustees shall meet at least once a month, 
and as much oftener as the By-Laws may provide ; and they 
shall keep full and careful records of all their doings, and 
lay the same before the Association at its annual meetings. 

Sec. 8. Auxiliary Societies may be formed upon such 
terms as the By-Laws may direct ; and at all meetings of 
the Association such auxiliaries may be represented and vote 
by their delegates — each auxiliary to have one vote for ev- 
ery ten members of their own association. 

Sec. 9. This Constitution may be amended at any annu- 
al meeting. 



BY-LAWS. 



Sec. 1. There shall be an Executive Committee of five Trustees, 
whose business it shall be, in the recess of the meetings of the Board 
of Trustees, to control and manage the affairs of the Association, and 
to keep regular minutes of their proceedings. 

Sec. 2. The Trustees of this Association may demand and take 
security from their Treasurer, from time to time, for the faithful per- 
formance of the trust reposed in him, in such manner as to them 
shall seem fit. 

Sec. 3. In case of the death, resignation, neglect, or refusal to act, 
of any of the Officers or Trustees of the Association, the Trustees 
may, at any regular meeting, appoint any other officer or officers in 
their stead, who shall hold their offices until the next annual election, 
and until others shall be chosen or appointed in their places. 

Sec. 4. The Trustees shall have power to fix the amount and 
compensation of officers and agents as yball to them seem meet, and 
to change the same as to them shall seem proper. 

Sec. 5. The Trustees shall meet at least once in every month, at 
such time and place as they shall from time to time appoint. 

Sec 6. It shall be the duty of the Trustees to take charge of, 
and exercise a general superintendence over, the business and affairs 
of the Association, and to direct and control the action of the several 
officers thereof in the discharge of the respective duties prescribed by 
the By-Laws, or otherwise assigned to and devolving upon them re- 
spectively. 

Sec 7. They shall keep regular minutes of their proceedings, and 
shall report to the Association their proceedings at its annual meeting, 
or oftener, if required. 



Sec 8. The names of the several Trustees present at any meeting 
for the transaction of business, shall be entered in the minutes of the 
proceedings of such meeting. 

Sec. 9. A meeting of the Trustees may be convened by a member 
of the Board of Trustees, or by any five members of the Association, 
upon their written request for such meeting, stating the object there- 
of, communicated to the Corresponding Secretaries, whose duty it 
shall be in such case to notify the Trustees of such required meeting, 
and of the object of the same ; and in case of the absence, inability, 
or refusal to act of the Corresponding Secretaries, then notice may be 
given by said five members in writing. 

Sec. 10. The Secretaries shall be a Recording Secretary and three 
Corresponding Secretaries. 

Sec 11. The Recording Secretary shall keep minutes of the pro- 
ceedings of the Association, and a list of members. He shall have 
the charge and custody of the Seal. He shall also transcribe the 
Constitution and By-Laws in a book to be provided for that purpose 
— the By-Laws to be written, leaving alternate blank leaves or pages 
for conveniently transferring thereto, in proper connection, from the 
minutes, such amendments as may be from time to time adopted ; 
and shall give to all members of the Association, as application may 
be made for that purpose, the opportunity of subscribing their names 
to said Constitution and By-Laws, in the book so provided. 

Sec 12. The Corresponding Secretaries shall act in conjunction as 
Committee of Correspondence. 

Sec 13. The Committee on Membership shall consist of 
five, and shall hold stated monthly meetings. The times of such 
meetings to be designated by the Committee, but not to be more 
than three days prior to the stated meetings of the Trustees ; and the 
members present at such meetings shall constitute a quorum for 
business. 

Sec 14. The application of all candidates for admission shall be 
given to the Recording Secretary in writing, with their occupation 
and respective places of residence, which shall be filed by the Record- 
ing Secretary, and the latter shall enter such names on record, and 
deliver a list of names so entered to the Chairman of the Committee 
on Membership. 



Sec. 15. The Committee on Membership shall report in writing 
at each stated meeting of the Trustees, or at any other meeting 
when required, the names of candidates approved by them ; the 
acceptance and adoption of which report by a vote of a majority 
of the Trustees present, by ballot, shall elect the approved candi- 
dates ; and such report, when accepted and adopted, shall be 
entered on the minutes with the resolution of acceptance. Any can- 
didate or candidates reported for approval by the Committee, may, at 
the request of any Trustee, be balloted for, separately or jointly, 
and a vote of a majority of the Trustees present shall be necessary 
to elect the candidate or candidates thus balloted for. 

Sec. 16. All candidates proposed and not formerly reported on by 
the Committee, or, on the rejection of the report, the candidates re- 
commended, may at the same or any subsequent meeting, be elected 
members on a separate ballot, by a vote of five-sixths of the members 

present. 

Sec. 17. Notice shall be given by the Recording Secretary to 
each member duly elected, informing him of his election, as early as 
may be thereafter, and in this notice shall be contained a request that 
such member will avail himself of the earliest convenient opportunity 
to visit the oiEce of the Association, acquaint himself with its regtf- 
altions, and subscribe to the Constitution and By-Laws. 

Sec. 18. Every person who shall be admitted a member, shall 
pay to the Agent, upon his admission, one dollar, as an initiation fee, 
and shall pay annually thereafter one dollar yearly dues — the same 
to be payable on or before the second Thursday of May, annually ; 
and the name of every person delinquent in making such payment 
shall be reported by the Agent to the Trustees. 

Sec. 19. The refusal or neglect of any member to pay any duea 
or any other indebtedness, for three months after the same shall be 
payable and demanded, shall be considered, and be, a withdrawal 
from the Association, unless an excuse in writing, satisfactory to 
the Trustees, be submitted and approved at a stated meeting ; and 
no member who shall be in arrear shall be privileged to debate or 
vote on any subject, or at any election, or have the privilege of 
membership. 

Sec. 20. Any member maybe suspended or expelled from this 
Association for improper conduct, or a refusal to comply with any of 



the By-Laws or Regulations of the Society, by a vote of two-thirds 
of the members present at any stated or special meeting of the same, 
provided he shall have been duly notified of said meeting and its pur- 
poses, and furnished with a copy of the specification of charges which 
shall have been presented against him, and allowed sufficient oppor- 
tunity of defence. 

Sec. 21. Persons may be elected honorary members, by a ma- 
jority vote of either the Trustees or the Association ; and such mem- 
bers shall not be liable for any dues or contributions to the Association. 

Sec. 22. Any Spiritualists' Association in New England may be- 
come auxiliary to this Society by agreeing to pay into the treasury of 
this Association its surplus funds, and sending to the Secretaries for 
Correspondence a copy of its Constitution and Annual Reports ; pro- 
vided the Trustees at any regular meeting shall accept its applica- 
tion. 

Sec. 23. Every auxiliary society, to the amount of its contribu- 
tions, shall be entitled to such aid as shall be deemed best by this 
Association. 

Sec. 24. Any person may become a life member of this Associa- 
tion by being elected as prescribed in Sections 13, 14, 15, 16, above, and 
paying to the Treasurer the sum of twenty-five dollars, and shall 
thereafter be exempt from the payment of annual dues. 

Sec. 25. Propositions for adding to, amending or altering these 
By-Laws, may be submitted in writing at any regular meeting of the 
Trustees, and may be acted on at their next regular meeting ; and if 
two-thirds of the Trustees present shall concur in the same, they 
shall become valid and binding as a part of the By-Laws, subject to 
the approval of the Association. 



ADDRESS. 



Citizens of New England : 

It is computed that nearly Two Millions of people in 
our nation, together with hundreds of thousands in other 
lands, are already believers in Spiritualism. No less than 
twelve or fourteen periodicals are devoted to the publication 
of its phenomena and the dissemination of its principles. 
Nearly each succeeding week brings, through the press, 
some new books treating exclusively upon this subject. Ev- 
ery day, and much more than daily, lectures upon Spiritual- 
ism are given in the presence of audiences quite respectable 
as to both numbers and character. Circles are held by day 
and by night in nearly every city, town and village through- 
out our country. 

Belief that spirits speak intelligibly to man is already 
working widely and deeply; it is fast gaining power for 
either good or evil. It asks, and it may well claim, atten- 
tion from every considerate mind. It is in our midst ; it is 
at work among us. Is it a friend or is it a, foe to man'? 
Examine it ; try it ; learn its nature ; learn its purposes : 
learn its effects ; and when xoell informed, answer the ques- 
tion, and shape your treatment of the subject. Such is the 
call to every influential mind. And the call is for prompt 
action. Resistance (if resistance be called for) must be 
speedy or it will be useless. Soon the strange faith will 
have grown too strong to be resisted. Already it makes it- 
self the companion of the farmer in his fields — the mechanic 



10 

in his work-shop — the sailor in cabin or forecastle — the 
judge on his bench — the senator on his legislative chair — 
the clergyman in his desk — the philosopher in his study ; 
it goes with man through all his varied walks in life, and it 
nestles fondly with woman, whether in the kitchen, the 
nursery or the parlor. Nor is it a mere companion — it as- 
sumes to be teacher and helper — it tells of matters beyond 
death and the grave, and concerns itself with things of deep 
and universal interest. It gains a ready hearing, and sows 
its seed of truth or of error, of fact or of delusion, on many 
a fertile spot. Its words are already moulding the condition 
of millions of immortal souls, not while they shall dwell in 
the body merely, but after they shall have gone to the in- 
visible mansions in the Father's house. Things material 
also are made its topics ; it out-travels the astronomer in his 
remotest journeyings to suns and systems in the distant 
heavens ; it scans the composition of the planets, and descries 
their vegetation and their various inhabitants with. a mi- 
nuteness which the most powerful telescope fails to furnish in 
the observatories of science. The chemist's laboratory 
never reaches such thorough analyses of matter as the teach- 
ers in Spiritualism are daily describing. Statements are 
made which more than hint at such knowledge of the pro- 
perties of matter, as will help man in all the daily avocations 
of life : such as will aid the agriculturist, the machinist, the 
mechanic : such as will lessen our toils and improve our modes 
of life. These new teachers pass beyond the bounds which 
have hedged in, not the astronomer alone, but the geologist, 
the mineralogist, the chemist, the physiologist — the man of 
any and every science. Statements are made about proper- 
ties in matter which have escaped man's detection — but 
which, when described, can be used by him. The finer pro- 
perties of his own organs are set forth, and he is taught how 
to turn them to advantage in the preservation or restoration 
of health. It is not the future and distant alone that the 



11 

clairvoyants are describing ; but the near and the present al- 
so. This earth, and all things upon it, are being analyzed 
and unfolded and made of higher use. These statements 
hint at some few of the teachings which are working their 
way into thousands of minds, where they will effect changes 
for better or for worse. 

But there is something more than teaching. Spiritual- 
ism works. The sick and feeble feel its touch, and are heal- 
ed or strengthened, in numberless cases; and this, not by 
miracle, but by the use of natural means, under the direc- 
tion of an eye that looks through the human organism, sees 
the difficulty, and sees where and how to apply the remedy. 
And beside the curing of disease, we have " signs;" ours, 
too, is a generation seeking after signs ; and we have them 
in the movements of tables and chairs by invisible power — 
in the music from pianos, drums and trumpets, where no 
visible performer is near — in audible voices — in distinct vis- 
ion of the departed, and in many other ways. All these 
things must indicate that the public mind will be roused to 
observation, and that it will receive these wonderful words 
and works as being in fact what they claim to be, unless 
some other producing cause can be demonstrated. Here is 
the world's work. The phenomena, many of them at least, 
are generally admitted. They claim to be the work of 
spirits ; and such claim must stand good, unless the world 
can show some other adequate and probable agent. To show 
such an agent is the duty of every one who apprehends harm 
from Spiritualism. 

"We who now unite to form an association, are firmly per- 
suaded that the spirits of the departed come to us ; that they 
write and speak for our instruction and improvement. We 
believe that they work in harmony with God's universal 
laws ; in harmony with his kind designs ; and that, in lend- 
ing our aid to this cause, we are co-workers with the All* 
merciful One, and with his good angels. 



12 

Such is our faith. Therefore, if there be anything of 
manhood in us, sneers and scoffs and ridicule are not the in- 
struments that will be likely to change or stay our course. 
Facts and sound argument we think we can give for the 
faith that is in us ; and we trust that we shall be ready to 
admit the fair and full force of all facts and sound argument 
that shall be brought to bear against our belief. But those 
who would shake our faith are asked to discover, and dis- 
tinctly describe and define, some other power than spirits, 
which can cause all the varied, wonderful phenomena of 
Spiritualism. Faraday, Rogers, Docls, Beecher, and others, 
have tried — and, if they have satisfied themselves, they ob- 
viously have failed to satisfy the great mass of reasoning 
and thinking minds. Their several efforts are so far fail- 
ures as that they cannot be called successes. Time is 
strengthening the claims of the spirits. Their powers 
are confessedly adequate to the works performed ; while 
their opponents fail to show any other adequate power. All 
such failures imply difficulties ; and repeated failures give 
suspicion of impossibility. The foundations of Spiritualism 
stand as yet unimpaired by the efforts that have been made 
to shatter them. Still, however, we would invite to new ef- 
forts in the same direction, provided they be manly and hon- 
est. If we are in error, we must become sufferers. For 
our own good, as well as for the good of the world, we ask 
for the most extensive and thorough investigation that can 
be given. True, we should be sorry to let go our hold upon 
a faith that throws so much pleasant light upon both the 
present and the future world ; that is so full of consolation 
in hours of bereavement ; so full of power to substitute joy 
for sorrow ; so beautiful in its revelations of the Heavenly 
Father's works and laws; so emphatic in its declarations 
that we all must reap that which we sow ; so cheering in its 
exhortations to duty; so clear in its justifications of the 
ways of God to man. We should be sorry to part with this 



1o 
o 

elevating and purifying Faith — and yet, if it be error, if 
facts and logic can prove it unsound, we hope to be ready to 
exchange it for something true and therefore good. 

But while others are urged to investigate, we, who have 
passed beyond disturbing doubts, feel a call upon us to pre- 
pare for some systematic course of effort to disseminate the 
truths which we value. Association is the customary and 
therefore almost the necessary step. We therefore associ- 
ate ; not that we fail to see that association may tend to sink 
the individual — to lessen his personal efforts — and dispose him 
to follow where others lead, rather than judge for himself. 
But though there be dangers, there are benefits also ; and it 
should be our purpose to shun the former while we avail 
ourselves of the latter. 

Perhaps we shall find but little to do at present in our 
associated capacity. Spiritualism has sprung up — an infant 
giant — and in less than seven years has made its power felt 
in all parts of the civilized world. This it has done by its 
own inherent energies. Unaided by associations, but avail- 
ing itself of individuals, it has pushed its way to the homes 
and hearts of millions. 

And yet we may by our association be instrumental in 
spreading knowledge of what the wonderful child has done 
and is doing ; and thus perhaps we may prepare the way 
for his more ready reception and more beneficent action 
among individuals and private circles. It is obvious that 
the efficient actors — the moving powers — are hidden from 
most of us. We should be no more than humble co-workers 
with the unseen. Our province is to follow, rather than to 
lead ; to execute, rather than to plan. At present, perhaps, 
we may think it best to do little more than put ourselves in 
readiness for calls that may come to us from the yet silent 
future. But should we be thus passive, we may yet ac- 
complish something — perhaps much. The world does not 
understand Spiritualism, and ignorantly makes it implv 



14 

much that has no necessary or natural connection with it. 
The ultra doctrines and plans of any who profess belief in 
Spiritualism, are regarded as the outgrowth of that belief. 
As well might these ultraisms and eccentricities be charged to 
Christianity, for the same agitators are believers in Chris- 
tianity also. The fruits of our creed, the earliest of them, 
have yet scarcely matured — while the later have not been 
fairly formed. Their quality we argue from the wisdom 
and beneficence of the God who sows the seed. Where He 
is sower, we feel that it is safe and wise to admit the seed 
into the grounds which He has allotted to each of us. Our 
creed is simple. Spirits do communicate with man — that 
is the creed. The legitimate consequences of belief in that 
single fact, are all that can be chargeable upon Spiritual- 
ism. All else that Spiritualists may believe and do, belongs 
to them as. individuals, and not necessarily as Spiritualists. 
We seem to. be saying but little ; yet it may be no small 
matter to utter unitedly the five simple words — spirits do 
communicate with man. Such utterance implies the facts 
that we disclaim all connection with any sect, party, or ism : 
that we are only young disciples in a new school, waiting 
for more knowledge and education before we are fitted to 
plan and execute new schemes for the world's good ; that 
we would be patient learners from intelligences of greater 
experience and wisdom than we now possess. There may 
seem to be, and there is, much of the world's impurity float- 
ing on the waters of Spiritualism — but its action is super- 
ficial and does not destroy the pearls which are imbedded at 
the bottom. Those pearls — the affectionate appeals; the 
wise counsels ; the cheering descriptions of the spirit- world ; 
the unfoldings and extension of human science ; the exposi- 
tion of the laws of both physical and moral health — these and 
other similar pearls are rich enough to compensate for the 
disagreeableness of the obloquy that follows the divers in 
this sea. 



15 

Spirits do communicate with mortals. Perhaps they 
always have been our guardians and helpers ; we doubt not 
that they have ; but now they have learned to be our teach- 
ers. Is it indeed so 1 Does the disencumbered spirit indeed 
come to our firesides and our closets, freighted with the wis- 
dom of a higher sphere 1 Can we sit as learners at the feet 
of aged travellers returning from beyond the hidden bourne,* 
and listen to their tales of love, purity and bliss? Our ears 
have heard them ; our hearts have been filled by them with 
holy aspirations; their words have made life's pathway 
brighter; and thrown around its close # a winning halo 
of light. 

Calmly but firmly we would put ourselves in readiness to 
help extend a faith that opens the doors of immortality to 
the skeptic ; that gives new life and strength to the believer : 
that sees departed friends stretching down the helping hand 
to bear us onward and upward to plains of clearer light and 
higher joys — and it is in such a work, men and women of 
New England, that we ask your co-operation. "A wide 
door is opened unto us, and effectual, but there are many 
adversaries." 



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